Jonathan who? Middlesbrough proved there is life after Jonathan Woodgate as they turned on the style to win their relegation rumble at the Riverside with Wigan.

Boro boss Gareth Southgate reckons he can do without Woodgate because he has plenty of cover at centre half and believes his £8million fee will be better spent on striker Afonso Alves.

It was hard to argue with his logic last night as Boro kept only their fifth clean sheet in the Premier League this season to put more distance between them and the drop zone.

But Wigan were so poor that Middlesbrough could have got away with playing Jonathan Creek at centre-half, never mind Jonathan Woodgate.

Fabio Capello pitched up at the Riverside to have a look at the England players on show before he names his first squad for next week's friendly against Switzerland.

But, not for the first time no doubt, it was the foreign players who caught the eye and Tuncay in particular was in outstanding form.

The Turk beat the ponderous Titus Bramble and then turned Paul Scharner inside out before hitting a right-foot shot which glanced off Chris Kirkland and behind for a corner.

Stewart Downing made sure Capello's trip was not entirely wasted and he broke through on the left only for Scharner to produce a great interception.

Tuncay continued to shine and he shot wide after slicing open Wigan's hapless defence by playing a lovely one-two with Jeremie Aliadiere.

It seemed only a matter of time before Boro scored and sure enough on 20 minutes Aliadiere latched on to Downing's long ball to smash home left-footed past Kirkland at his near post.

A black mark, no doubt, against Kirkland's name in Capello's notebook. It was only Aliadiere's second goal for Boro in 18 appearances and that statistic underlines why the Teessiders have struggled this season.

On the evidence of the first half, it was hard to fathom why only two points separate these sides in the bottom third of the table as Boro were a class apart.

Steve Bruce had boldly paired his new £4million striker Marlon King up front alongside Marcus Bent with Emile Heskey pushed out to the left wing, but his side barely had a kick.

Boro, with just two home league wins all season, were buzzing and Tuncay was just inches away from directing Downing's drive home for a second goal. That proved to be Tuncay's last meaningful contribution and he came off with a pulled hamstring to be replaced by Mido.